Daily Women's Health Policy Report
Ark. Legislature orders medical board to replace 'fetus' with non-medically accepted terms in abortion regulations
Under orders from the Arkansas Legislative Council, the Arkansas State Medical Board (ASMB) on Thursday voted 9-4 to use the terms "unborn child" and "unborn human individual" rather than "fetus" in its proposed regulations to implement several state abortion restrictions, the AP/Sacramento Bee reports.
Pa. House rejects effort to delay vote on bill with abortion care bans
The Pennsylvania House on Wednesday voted 114-73 to reject an effort by liberal state lawmakers to postpone voting on a bill (HB 1948) that would impose several abortion restrictions, the AP/Sacramento Bee reports.
Op-Ed urges Supreme Court, state lawmakers to 'follow science' on abortion care
FDA last week "updated its 16-year-old guidelines for mifepristone, the drug used in medication abortions, to reflect the latest scientific evidence and reduce potential side effects," Drew Halfmann, an associate professor of sociology at the University of California-Davis and a member of the Scholars Strategy Network, writes in a Sacramento Bee opinion piece.
Blogs comment on Mo. lawmakers' efforts to collect private medical records from Planned Parenthood, providing abortion care at 20 weeks' pregnancy & more
Read the week's best commentary from bloggers at Salon, Daily Beast and more.
La. House passes 72-hour mandatory delay, provider certification bills
The Louisiana House on Wednesday passed two antiabortion-rights bills, the AP/Sacramento Bee reports.
Ariz. Senate approves bill targeting funding for abortion providers
The Arizona Senate by voice vote on Tuesday approved a bill (HB 2599) targeting Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, AP/KTAR reports.
Ariz. will appeal ruling that struck down medication abortion restriction
Arizona filed a notice that it will appeal a ruling that struck down a 2012 medication abortion restriction that violated the state constitution, the Phoenix New Times reports.
Ky. gov. appeals ruling allowing abortion provider's office to remain open
The Kentucky officials on Monday appealed a court ruling that denied the state's request to close an abortion provider's office pending the outcome of a lawsuit regarding the facility's licensure, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports.
Ill. House committee opposes bill that would facilitate access to contraception
An Illinois House committee on Tuesday expressed opposition to a bill (HB 5809) that would facilitate access to contraception, the AP/Sacramento Bee reports.
Obama administration to transfer $500M in Ebola response funds to Zika efforts
A senior Obama administration official on Wednesday said the administration will transfer some funds intended for efforts to combat the Ebola virus to Zika response efforts, the New York Times reports.
Video Round Up
Broadly shares a behind-the-scenes clip from "Across the Line," a virtual reality documentary that uses video and audio recordings from antiabortion-rights protests at U.S. clinics to show viewers what many women experience when trying to access abortion care.
Video Round Up
In this clip, RTV6's Katie Heinz discusses a new social medial campaign launched in reaction to a harmful Indiana law (HB 1337) that bans abortion care based on the sex of the fetus or a fetal disability diagnosis, among other restrictions.
Video Round Up
In this clip, Fox 17 News' Michele DeSelms covers legislation (HB 4787, HB 4830) passed last week in the Michigan House that would penalize individuals who coerce a woman into receiving an abortion.
Video Round Up
In part of a longer clip covering multiple topics, Reuters TV reports on an omnibus antiabortion-rights measure (HB 1411) recently signed into law by Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) that bars local health departments from distributing funds for non-abortion-related care to organizations affiliated with abortion providers, among several other provisions.
Video Round Up
WTVF's Chris Conte reports on the outcome of a Tennessee House subcommittee hearing, which advanced one antiabortion-rights bill while deferring or withdrawing several others.
Video Round Up
In this clip, Los Angeles Times reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske hears from Kristeena Banda -- a clinic administrator at Whole Woman's Health, an abortion clinic in McAllen, Texas -- about what is at stake in a legal challenge to parts of Texas' omnibus antiabortion-rights law (HB 2).
Video Round Up
13 News WOWK reporter Alyssa Meisner interviews several women in West Virginia about Nurx, a smartphone application that helps women access birth control.
Video Round Up
In a segment on HB 2, comedian Samantha Bee interviews Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, and Texas Rep. Dan Flynn (R), one of the bill's authors, for TBS' "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee," Vox reports.
Video Round Up
John Oliver on HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" discusses the proliferation of attacks on abortion rights in the United States and comments on how such restrictions affect a woman's access to abortion care.
Datapoints
This map, from Bloomberg Business, highlights the rapid decline in abortion access in the United States since 2011.
Datapoints
These maps, compiled using data from the New York Times and the Guttmacher Institute, underscore findings from a recent Times investigation, including that there were more than 700,000 searches for how to self-induce an abortion in 2015.
Datapoints
This chart, compiled by NPR, shows how the majority of countries affected by the Zika virus, which might be linked to a severe birth defect, curb access to contraception and abortion care.
Datapoints
In this map, Center for American Progress' "ThinkProgress" spotlights the 12 states that have cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing after launching investigations into the organization.
Datapoints
In its latest report card, the Population Institute provides a snapshot of the condition of reproductive rights and health in each state in 2015.
Datapoints
The Guttmacher Institute in this graph shows the rapid increase in the number of state abortion restrictions over the past few years.
Datapoints
In this map, the Kaiser Family Foundation shows how widely abortion coverage varies from state to state in insurance plans sold through the Affordable Care Act's (PL 111-148) insurance marketplaces.
Datapoints
This infographic, released with a new Guttmacher Institute study, shows the increase in use of long-acting reversible contraception among U.S. women between 2002 and 2012.
Datapoints
This map, released with a study from the University of Michigan Health System, shows how an increasing number of state Medicaid programs over the last three years are providing reimbursement for immediate postpartum LARC provision.
At a Glance
"A woman's ability to end her pregnancy too often depends on where she lives, her age and how much money is in her pocket."
— Marcela Howell of In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda, discussing ongoing disparities in women's access to abortion care on the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
At a Glance
"If women are not free to make decisions about their own lives and health, they are not free. And if women are not free, none of us are."
— Abortion provider Warren Hern, in a STAT News opinion piece on why he continues to offer abortion care despite receiving harassment and death threats throughout his 42-year career.
At a Glance
"Not since before Roe v. Wade has a law or court decision had the potential to devastate access to reproductive health care on such a sweeping scale."
— Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, on a ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld major portions of a Texas antiabortion-rights law.


